Robert Dreyfuss Returns To His Divine Beloved Meher Baba by Laurent Weichberger Flagstaff, Arizona
T he following narrative is compiled from Lord Meher, by V.S. Bhau Kalchuri about Robert Dreyfuss' connection with
Avatar Meher Baba: In Boston, Massachusetts, in the spring of 1965, a college senior at Boston University named Robert Neal Dreyfuss, age twenty-two, visited his friend Allan Cohen at Harvard, who was studying in the Psychology and Social Relations departments in an advanced graduate program. On the door of Allan Cohen's office was a card with this quote from Baba: To penetrate into the essence of all being and significance, and to release the fragrance of that inner attainment for the guidance and benefit of others, by expressing, in the world of forms, truth, love, purity and beauty – this is the sole game which has any intrinsic and absolute worth. All other happenings, incidents and attainments can, in themselves, have no lasting importance. [From Discourses by Meher Baba]. Robert Dreyfuss was immediately drawn to this quote and later recollected: "I read it and reread it, astounded that the purpose of life could be summed up so concisely and yet so eloquently." He had seen a picture of Meher Baba two weeks before, and when he entered Allan Cohen's office and saw the same photograph, he remarked, "Him again! Who is he?" Cohen told him about Baba and recommended he go to a library or to a bookstore and buy a few books to read. Dreyfuss had been planning a trip to India for some years and now knew why – to see Meher Baba! He learned of the sahavas to be held in December 1965, but having neither the money nor the inclination to join Harry Kenmore's group charter flight, on September 1st, Dreyfuss flew to London on a one-way ticket. He spent the next two and a half months hitchhiking across Europe, Turkey and Iran toward India. He was forced to take a boat and ride deck class from Kuwait for eight days, because the border between Pakistan and India was closed due to the war. Dreyfuss arrived in Bombay on November 14th. After spending one night in Bombay, sleeping on the floor in a Sikh temple, Dreyfuss hitchhiked to Poona. He was given a ride on a truck carrying furniture, on top of which was a big overstuffed armchair, on which he sat all the way to Poona. At the Meher Baba Poona Center, Ramakrishnan (the caretaker of the Center), asked who he was and why he had come. When he learned Dreyfuss had come for the sahavas, Ramakrishnan was silent and then asked, "Surely you must be joking! Don't you know that Meher Baba has canceled the sahavas?" [1] [After meeting Baba's brother Jal, in Pune, and Adi K. Irani in Ahmednagar on November 16th it was determined that Robert would be allowed by Baba to visit Meherazad, to share with Baba's men mandali. After discussing LSD and other topics with the men, we pick up the narrative from Lord Meher...]
Eruch left and returned a few moments later and asked, "Would you like to see Baba now?" At about 3:00 P.M. he led Dreyfuss to Baba's room. The following is Robert Dreyfuss' description of his first meeting with the Lord of Love: Suddenly, there he was! Sitting on his bed, unclothed from the waist up, beaming – the Emperor of emperors. What occurred then I shall never forget – a great loosening, a shaking from within. I am not given to visions, or 'seeing things,' or hallucinations, but on beholding his form, what I saw was his resplendent face at the center of an effulgence so brilliant, of a light so complete in its all-encompassing radiance, that tears blurred my vision in rivers of delight. There was no way I could stop it. The light was so brilliant, it was like looking into the sun, and so tears naturally had to flow. Here he was, the One who in his compassion had granted this speck of his imagination a glimpse of the Sun! Baba gestured, "I am happy to see you. You look tired and dusty. Take a hot bath and before sundown I want you to read a certain section of God Speaks (regarding Fana and Baqa). It must be before the sun sets. Have a good dinner and get a good night's sleep. I will see you in the morning." Dreyfuss nodded, as he was in fact "speechless before his silence." Eruch led him back to the men's side, where he did as Baba instructed and spent the night on Baba's cot in the Blue Bus. Later that afternoon, Mani came and said, "Baba would like to see the route you took to come here," and she had Dreyfuss draw it on a map. She took it to Baba and later brought it back, saying, "Baba says to tell you that he was with you all the way; that he drew you to him." [2]
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